Sanaá – 19th Century Magic

I haven’t been a lucky business traveler. On official visits, where my other friends travel to exotic places like Frankfurt, Spain, Canada, I’ve to suffice with the rural areas in the gulf. I’ve just been to Doha earlier and now I’m in Sanaá. Don’t recognize the place, well I don’t blame you. Only geographical wizards would know that Sanaá is the capital of Yemen – a country in the far end of the Middle East bordering the Arabian sea, Red sea and between Oman and Saudi Arabia.

However, I think there’s a silver lining to these tours. If it wasn’t for work, I would’ve never experienced the magic of the 19th century that you can only see in Old Town Sanaá.

Weather:

Sanaá is 1800 mts. above sea level. Do I hear the wow from you? There are two seasons – cool and cold. Temperatures range from 2 degrees to 30 degrees throughout the year. It rains a bit during the cool season i.e. from June to September. All in all, the weather is awesome. The only problem is that since it is so high up, heavy people might experience lack of oxygen. Any physical activity will leave you out of breath pretty soon.

People:

On landing in Sanaá you might be shocked on seeing everyone carrying a dagger in their belts. Few of them even sling guns on their shoulders or have revolvers in their holsters. However, this is just a part of their culture. The people are surprisingly happy and carefree. In restaurants, hotels, petrol stations, they’ll greet you with utmost respect and hospitality.

This good natured Yemen is the magic of ‘Kaat’ – the national herb of Yemen. Every day, after lunch, you’ll notice a big lump in the cheeks of 3 out of 5 Yemeni men. They buy a bag of Kaat leaves and chew them. The leaves are accumulated in the mouth at either side and the juice is slowly swallowed throughout 4 to 6 hours. This herb is an enhancer and makes them energetic and happy. It helps them work energetically through their long day.

One thing that you might find surprising is that almost everyone in Sanaá wears a Blazer. In the picture of Bab Al Yemen, you’ll see all the people wearing blazers. Doesn’t matter if you are wearing a shirt or a Kandura underneath. They don’t wear other warm clothing like sweaters, leather or other jackets – Only Blazers.

Old Sanaá:

One of the most special attractions of this city is the old town of Sanaá. This is a walled city within the city. It is the original Sanaá which is surrounded on all sides by a wall almost 5 storeys tall. The gate you see in the picture is the Gate to old town Sanaá and is called ‘Bab Al-Yemen’ i.e. The gate of Yemen. Once inside the old city, you’ll feel transported to a different era altogether. Craftsmen working on animal bones to mould them in dagger handles, craftsmen working on dagger blades with hand tools, carpenters, blacksmiths, all working with handmade tools in small shacks, corner shops with burning stoves selling ‘kadak’ tea and coffee, blindfolded camels going round and round in small rooms helping extract sesame seed oil – the experience is unreal.

Walking through the narrow streets of Old Sanaá you will find shops selling Daggers, dagger belts, spices, exotic tea called ‘khabus’ tea, antique pieces like old rifles, mirrors, frames etc. The Daggers range from USD 100 to USD 5,000. Surprised? The handles of the more expensive ones are made from Rhinoceros bones while the cheaper ones are camel bone. There are now even daggers available from China for as low as USD 10 which are supposed to make kids happy.

The architecture is clearly medieval. All windows have a half moon design above them which is fixed with coloured glasses to allow sunlight to light up the homes in different colours. This is a piece of history not to be missed.

Breathtaking views:

When in Sanaá, every direction you see, you’ll find amazing sights of rocky mountains. Many a times, half of them are sunny while half of them covered by clouds. There are houses built on mountain slopes and makes you feel like you just discovered the remains of an old civilization. These views cannot be described and unfortunately, I didn’t carry a camera to show you what I mean. But I found these pictures on the net.

Language:

The only language people speak is Arabic. Very few people speak or understand English so you’ll be learning Arabic real quick. I picked up quite a few words in one week. The fun part is shouting on the streets whenever you’re stuck in a traffic or want people to move ahead. You just shout “Haaiiiyyyyooooo” (meaning C’mon) with that deep throaty Arabic throw and people would know that there’s a Yemeni behind.

Food:

Vegetarians would have a tough time understanding what to eat except if you’re staying at big hotels. For non-vegetarians food lovers, roadside joints are definitely recommended. In old town, you can devour skewers and skewers of mutton kababs with khabus and top it up with a kadak chai (strong tea). In the city, there are plenty of places which serve you awesome scrambled eggs with tomatoes, lamb liver fry, cooked beans in gravy etc. Whatever you do, do not miss “Zeyna” on October street which will serve you the most delicious mutton biryani you’ve ever laid on your tongue and a delicious dish called “zigni” which is basically like mutton rogan josh but tastes special.

In addition, you do have the regular KFC, Pizza hut and Baskin robbins… Quite a contrast.

Other activities:

Apart from visiting Old town and other tourist attractions which are a little far from Sanaá, you can go to fun city and play pool or do a bit of bowling. Contrast again.

Well, Sanaá is not a must visit destination. But if you are there, you wouldn’t mind it either. This is why I say that if it weren’t be for my work, I wouldn’t ever have experienced this special place called Sanaá.

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3 Responses

I am actually glad you don’t get to visit the already famous places…we’ve seen enough pics & have enough details on those..its nice to learn abt these kinda places which are rarely written abt..I was transported mentally & spiritually to a totally new (old) world! Thank-u..